It's not that I don't see the value - it's just that that my photos never compare to those here who have the patience, knowledge, equipment, proficiency to do a first class job. My photos, while adequate when viewed later, are usually just glossed over by others...never really showing the sweat, mosquitoes, heat, rain, (pain?), euphoria undertaken just to get there.

It's not the weight - I do possess a small Canon Elph - works OK - lots of pixels. BTW, once did break the viewing screen on my last camera while carried - chit happens...just leave it at home now.

In this stage of my limited hiking career, no need to prove anything to anyone later either...maybe to record any sizable Lunker caught, but... in my mind's eye, it will usually (always?) grow larger upon telling anyways... and it's always a hassle to land and shoot at the same time.

It could also be that my usual hiking companion (the Oldranger) is not photogenic .

Mostly, prefer to carry a sketchpad and art supplies instead. HYOH...Just my personal preference how the best places Sierra will be remembered long afterwards.

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markskor wrote:The one cast vote so far as not carrying any camera - thoughts:

It's not that I don't see the value - it's just that that my photos never compare to those here who have the patience, knowledge, equipment, proficiency to do a first class job. My photos, while adequate when viewed later, are usually just glossed over by others...never really showing the sweat, mosquitoes, heat, rain, (pain?), euphoria undertaken just to get there.

It's not the weight - I do possess a small Canon Elph - works OK - lots of pixels. BTW, once did break the viewing screen on my last camera while carried - chit happens...just leave it at home now.

In this stage of my limited hiking career, no need to prove anything to anyone later either...maybe to record any sizable Lunker caught, but... in my mind's eye, it will usually (always?) grow larger upon telling anyways... and it's always a hassle to land and shoot at the same time.

It could also be that my usual hiking companion (the Oldranger) is not photogenic .

Mostly, prefer to carry a sketchpad and art supplies instead. HYOH...Just my personal preference how the best places Sierra will be remembered long afterwards.

The penultimate sentence here is the key. Unlike most of us, you actually have the talent to draw Sierra landscapes in a way that does them justice. Me, I have to rely on a camera.

I carry a Nikon D5100, which is fairly light for a DSLR, and a lightweight (1 lb.) tripod. Kit lens is 18-55mm, which works pretty well as a compromise--it isn't perfect for anything, but it's good enough for a lot of things. I used to also carry a point-and-shoot Olympus with a good macro lens, but it drowned in Woods Creek two years ago and I haven't replaced it.

I always carry a camera. I love the light weight digital cameras- I remember when film limited me to the number of pictures and the camera was really heavy. Now I shoot pictures with abandon! My camera weighs 6-8 oz. I do not care if they are "professional" or not. They are the record of my trips, mostly solo (so I cannot beg photos off others). When I am in my rocking chair at 90 years old, and my memory is feeble, I will re-live my trips through my photos. My eyesight will probably be so poor that I will not even know if the photos are good or not!

Follow-up: Tripod Yes. I use an ultralight "trail-pix" which I highly recommend, it uses my trekking poles for two legs and a collapsible third. Not the most solid, but it certainly does the trick for anything I've thrown at it so far.

While without reservation I can say backpacking was my first love in the outdoors, I can likely say that photography is becoming my second with peakbagging dropping to third. So yes, I carry a camera always. I've been through a few point-and-shoots, and reviewing pictures from trips with them nowadays it's fun to see how I've learned. Safe to say I have a ways to go.

I use a mirrorless Sony NEX-5T that I got due to its small form factor and relatively high image quality. The interchangeable lens is nice as well since I use a fisheye lens for taking spherical panoramas and for astrophotography, and I recently got a nice zoom lens that I'll debate using ahead of the 18-55mm kit lens I've used thus far.

My usual p&s compactish camera has been a canon G10, picked it up for a song when Circuit City went out of business years ago. It's getting long in the tooth and the lens is acting up, getting stuck and not opening/closing correctly. Probably going to start looking for something a little lighter / faster / more pocket able.

This year I'm also going to go low tech and blow the cobwebs off my M3 and take it out on a few trips for it's 60th birthday..

I use my GoPro Hero for its size and the fact that I bought it, so might as well use it. It doesn't take the most spectacular pictures due to the fisheye, but it works. I find that when I take it I tend to travel much slower than without; to me, everything is photogenic and warrants a shot.

I carry my Nikon D5300 everywhere. I normally use a Tamron 18-270mm lens. The whole rig is a couple of pounds. I would like a GoPro next because I really feel the need to make videos somehow. I normally don't take my Manfrotto tripod unless I really think I will need it. It adds a little bit more weight and sometimes I have been tempted to chuck it on long trips.

I would imagine that a majority of BPers carry a camera and take some photos but a minority take lots of photos. Obviously I'm supposing here. The people I'm writing this to probably arn't reading this because they don't carry a camera but here goes anyway. I always assumed that the purpose of carrying a camera was to look at pictures and show to others soon after a trip. Therefore I took some pics and didn't take many I should have taken. I was mistaken in this assumption and now I know what I think should be the real reason. I think I have a perspective on this that very few on HST have. I'm a retired BPer (not by choice) and believe there are VERY few of us here (maybe only me).

I don't have NEARLY ENOUGH PICTURES of my trips to look at and in many cases only my memory (which pictures illuminate). It's a good thing I have an excellent backpacking memory. Not a lot of 72 year olds have.

I believe I remember every day of every trip except for places I went to more than once and in those cases I remember every little part of those places. Nevertheless the pictures of my trips are better than pure memory.

What I'm saying here is: TAKE PICS OF ALMOST EVERYTHING. I'm probably preaching to the choir here and believe that the people who should be reading this don't even checkout this thread. That's a shame (for them).